Unless otherwise expressly provided in these Bylaws, all elections by the Members, Delegates, Directors, and LSBs, shall be conducted by the Single Transferable Voting method where there is more than one seat or position to be filled, and by the Instant Runoff Voting Method where there is only one seat or position to be filled.

A. SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTING METHOD.

The following manner of single transferable voting shall be used in order to achieve proportional representation:

1. Each ballot shall list all candidates for the position and give each voter the option of voting for one candidate or of ranking the candidates in order of preference.

2. Vote counting shall start with a tabulation of each voter's first, or only, choice vote.

3. A threshold number of votes a candidate needs to be elected shall then be established ("Threshold"). The Threshold shall be that number which is equal to the total number of valid ballots cast divided by the sum of one plus the number of seats to be filled, plus one {[total number of valid ballots cast/(1 + the number of seats to be filled)] + 1}.

4. Those candidates receiving the Threshold number of votes, or more, shall be declared elected. Votes acquired by a candidate in excess of the Threshold shall be deemed that candidate's "surplus."

5. If no candidates, or an insufficient number of candidates, obtain a winning number of votes to be elected, then in order to fill those remaining seat(s), votes shall be transferred as follows:

a. Transfer of surplus votes shall commence with the candidate having the largest surplus. A portion of that candidate's surplus votes shall be transferred to the next candidate choice of those voters who elected him/her. The portion of the surplus distributable to the next candidate choice shall be that amount determined by dividing the transferring candidate's surplus amount by the total number of votes received by that candidate. (For example, if the candidate received 1000 votes and the threshold was 900 votes, then s/he had a surplus of 100 votes. Therefore 0.10 (100/1000) of a vote from each of those 1,000 ballots is transferred to those voters' next choices.) Votes may not be transferred to candidates who have already been elected (nor may votes be transferred to candidates who have been eliminated as set forth below.) When a voter's next choice is not eligible for receipt of transferred votes, that portion of a vote shall be transferred to that voter's next indicated choice unless all choices on that ballot have been exhausted. If all choices on that ballot have been exhausted, that portion of a vote shall be transferred to a special "exhausted vote" tally. After the transfer of all that candidate's surplus votes, a tally shall be taken.

b. If said tally does not result in a sufficient number of winning candidates to fill the remaining seats and if the previous transfer of surplus votes creates a new surplus, then surplus votes of the candidate then having the largest surplus shall be transferred to those voters' next choices, consistent with subsection (a) above, until all said candidate's surplus has been transferred or all declared choices on a ballot have been exhausted.

c. After each distribution of a candidate's surplus, a tally shall be taken to determine the winning candidate(s). This process of distributing surplus votes shall continue until all open seats are filled, until all surplus votes have been transferred or until ballot choices have been exhausted.

d. If, after all surplus votes have been distributed in the manner described above, there remain unfilled seats, the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated and his/her votes at their current value shall be transferred to those voters' next choice candidates who have not been previously declared elected or eliminated. The order in which candidates are eliminated shall be recorded as their ranking (highest rank given to the last eliminated, lowest rank given to the first eliminated). If there is a tie as to the candidate with the least number of votes, the candidate to be first eliminated shall be decided by drawing straws. Once all of that eliminated candidate's votes have been transferred, a new tally shall be taken to determine new winning candidates, if any. If there are no new winning candidates, then the candidate remaining with the least number of votes shall be eliminated and his/her votes at their current value shall be transferred, as above, until there are one or more new winning candidates. The new winning candidate(s) surplus votes shall then be distributed as in (a) through (c) above.

e. If, at any point when eliminating candidates under point (d) above, it can be determined that the elimination of more than one candidate is mathematically inevitable, then all such candidates may be eliminated at the same time. Elimination of multiple candidates is mathematically inevitable when:

i. The number of unelected candidates remaining after the elimination is equal to or greater than the number of unfilled seats; and

ii. The total of all votes allocated to the candidates in question is less than the total number of votes of the candidate with the next higher vote count.

f.This process of distributing surplus votes of winning candidates and eliminating losing candidates, as described in (b) through (e) above, shall be repeated until all seats have been filled, or until the number of unfilled seats equals the number of continuing candidates. In the latter case, all remaining continuing candidates are declared elected.

B. INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING METHOD

For purposes of these Bylaws, the method for Instant Runoff Voting shall be as follows:

1.Each voter shall have one vote.

2.Each ballot shall list all candidates for the position, on which ballot the voter shall rank the candidates in order of preference (with 1 representing the voter's first choice, 2 representing the voter's second choice and so on).

3.Vote counting shall start with a tabulation of all first choices among the voters. If any candidate receives a majority of the first choice votes, that candidate is declared the winner.

4.If no candidate achieves a majority, the "last place candidate" (defined as the candidate receiving the least number of first choice votes) is eliminated. In the case of a tie for last place, the first to be eliminated will be decided by lot. The votes of the voters who ranked the eliminated candidate as their first choice are redistributed to said voters' next-choice candidate(s) as indicated on their ballots. Any votes where there is no second choice indicated on the ballot go to an "exhausted vote" tally.

5.After this redistribution, the votes are tabulated again. If no candidate receives a majority of the non-exhausted votes, then the last place candidate after this vote is eliminated and the votes of those voters who ranked him/her as their highest choice among continuing candidates are redistributed to each of said voter's next-choice candidate, or to the "exhausted vote" tally if no further choices remain on the ballot. Another tabulation is then done.

6.This process of successively eliminating last place candidates, redistributing votes and tabulating continues until only one candidate remains or a candidate gains more than 50% of the non-exhausted votes.